A Ride down Memory Lane

Here is John, self explanatory to those of you who know John well and yes, he his holding is nose!

Here is Lakeland Hospital where the girls were both born. Both births were uneventful. Courtney was born after I had just finished watching ma Ingalls give birth to Grace. Her birth was so easy, I figured mine would be a breeze, too and it was. With Alissa there was no Doctor in that entire hospital so a nurse delivered her. Again uneventful!

The Cup and Pedal restaurant.

Here are some of the beautiful wildflowers we saw along the trail

Here I am all ready to begin the bike trail

This is our first home. It was actually a glorified double wide trailer but we loved it. It seems to have gotten a bit overgrown but with some love and attention it could be nice again. Both our girls came home to this house.

Today John and I took a ride down Memory Lane in and around Elkhorn, a town that holds many firsts for us:

• It was the first time we lived away from one of our hometowns as a married couple


• It was where we met some of our very first and best friends as a married couple


• It was where we bought our first home


• It was where our first and second child were born


• It was the first town we fell in love with as a married couple


• It was the first time we piled in a pick up truck and cut down a $5.00 Christmas tree


• It was where our girls swam in their very first swim class


• It was the first time we had ever discovered all the treasures of Walworth County


• It was where John got his first job and where I first found the beauty of being a stay at home mom

And these are just the tip of the ice burg for us. Elkhorn was such a magical place for us. I still remember the first time we drove to Elkhorn to find a place to live. Neither of us had ever been there before and we were filled with anticipation. We fell in love with it from that day on. We found a great apartment, there was a Value Village, a Lutheran church, a Ben Franklin, a library, what more did we need? And of course, the birth of our daughters was just the icing on the cake for us. I absolutely loved spending time with my girls and the other stay at home moms and their kids. Once a week we would all gather at one of our houses for games, chit chat, beverages, and chocolate. The kids would play and trash the house. We always left the hostess's house with enough time for her to straighten up before her husband got home. What fun memories! I don't ever wish to go back to a different time in my life but if given the chance to go back for short stint I would without a doubt go back to late 1979 when I was pregnant with Alissa and early 1980 right after she was born.

Getting back to our bike ride down Memory Lane. We rode 18 miles on the White River Bike Trail. It is a beautiful trail runs through fields of wildflowers, pine trees, and corn. We had lunch at our favorite spot on the trail, a restaurant in a restored depot in Springfield, WI called the Cup and Pedal. The last time we had been there was three years ago on a trail ride and as things go in a small town like Springfield nothing had changed right down to the same retired couple who runs the place. The chicken salad is so yummy and John recommends the turkey with cranberry mayo on oat bread.

After getting off the trail we took off for our tour of Elkhorn. We like to ride past all our old haunts and reminisce. Some things have changed of course, like our old grocery store Ted and Fred's United Foods is gone and our old swimming pool is now a state of the art aquatic center, but many things are just as we remember them. A ride down Memory Lane is always good for the soul.

After ten more miles around Elkhorn, we loaded up the bikes and took one more journey down the Lane. We went to Lake Geneva to see how the rich people were spending their day. We spent lots of good times in LG when we lived in Elkhorn. It was like taking a vacation without leaving our own backyard. That city has not changed at all, it is still filled with Illinois tourists who call it up north. At least they are still spending their money up here in our state. One nice addition is there is a new 26 mile walking path that goes around the entire lake. It runs right along the lake through many private properties so you can really get a good view of the magnicent homes on the lake. Of course, after 28 miles on a bike we couldn't walk too far on the path, but we did get a good taste of the scenery and plan to go back in the fall sometime with fresh legs so we can walk farther-maybe the whole 26 miles!

Note to Tizzy: Someday Grandpa and I will take you to Elkhorn and give you the ten cent tour. Just one more thing we look forward to sharing with you.

Zoos, trains, no planes, and a merry go round

Yesterday Lynne, Melissa, Meghan, the twins, and I headed up to Oshkosh to spend time at Menomonee Park and Zoo. The weather could not have been better, sunny with a nice cool breeze off Lake Winnebago. The zoo only has about a dozen animals but we spent over an hour just looking, running, walking, running, etc around in the zoo. Meghan had just been to the Milwaukee Zoo on Tuesday but she seemed to think this small zoo was every bit a nice as that one! The twins favorite part of the zoo was running and finding poles to twirl around. Oh, the simple pleasures of life. Every once in awhile they did stop to pick up some stones or wood chips and throw them. After our zoo tour we rode the little train and merry go round in the park. Cheap prices and long rides made it a good value. I decided I could drive the train when John and I go up there and retire. Seems like a nice easy job. Courtney met us after work and we headed to her house for a picnic lunch on their patio. You can see some of Tizzy's things in the picture. Meghan and the twins ate on her little table and sat in her little chairs. It was another test and all items passed with flying colors. After lunch Paul brought out a basketball for the boys but they seemed more interested in a small pile of dirt they found. Courtney joined us for a trip back to the wooden park to play. What a fun place for kids to explore and have fun! I am hoping that Lynne got back in time to get to work at the Library. We thought we gave her enough time, but traffic was a bit backed up... All in all it was a fun trip for everyone.

Note to Tizzy: It will not be long now and you will be home. Just wait until you ride the little train and merry go round. What a lucky little girl to have all these fun things plus a zoo right across the street! I am learning more and more that a child your age doesn't need any fancy toys, just a pole to twirl around, a small pile of dirt, an old cell phone, and a few testaments are all it takes! See you soon!

Broken flip flops and a proposal-a year ago

About one year ago, Nathan proposed to a complete unknowing Alissa in front of many of her family and friends. It was the kind of proposal that dreams are made of. The only people who knew what was coming was her dad, her brother in law, Paul because he had to make the announcement during the band break, and maybe one or two other men. Nathan knew better than to tell any women about the surprise!

We had just spent a fun afternoon at Sandy Beach celebrating Paul's PhD surrounded by many family members and friends. After a Polish horseshoe tourney, beers, and food everyone headed over to a local bar where Paul's band Spin, Spin Coupling was playing for the night. Band members had come from all over, one as far away as California, to be able to play for Paul's party. I did notice that Nathan seemed to be pacing rather nervously manning a video camera which wasn't too alarming. I did notice also that he hadn't had much too drink which for Nathan is abit alarming, but none of that set off any suspicions in my mind except in hindsight. Alissa, at one point was in a panic because her flip flop had broken and she wasn't able to dance as she wanted so her plan was to go back to Courtney's condo at the break and get a new pair of shoes. Unbeknownst to her, this would not be a doable plan since that is when Nathan was going to pop the question. By this time, Alissa's friend, Laura had been clued in, someone had to keep her in that bar rather than searching for a new shoe. I (remember still suspecting nothing) found it so cute as Laura tried to fix that shoe with tape, safety pins, anything she could russel (not sure that is a word) up from willing donators. Thanks to Laura's help, the flip flop was back in working order, not perfect, but usable for the rest of the evening. At the break, Paul called Nathan up to the mike. All I could think was, "Oh, no he is going to give one of his speeches to celebrate Paul!" There is nothing wrong with Nathan's speeches, but after a few beers they can get a bit sappy so I wasn't sure what was to come here to honor Paul, but suddenly Nathan was talking about how he was at a low point in his life when he met Alissa. He called her up to the stage and got on his knee, produced a ring, popped the question, and the rest is history. Even now as I recall that special night, it brings a smile to my face. We often revisit the moment and laugh about that broken flip flop and all that followed. Years ago when Alissa was having a rather uneventful high school life my prayer for her was to find happiness in life with or without a man. I wasn't sure I would ever get to see her in a wedding dress walking down that aisle, but meeting Nathan that fateful night in a Bloomington Bar changed all that and now on August 30 one of my dreams is being fulfilled as I walk her down the aisle! Life is certainly full of surprises and God is in control of it all. Everything in his perfect time! Who would have thought that Alissa would have such a storybook proposal!

Note to Tizzy: I know this blog entry is all about your Aunt Alissa and Uncle Nathan. I cannot wait until you get to meet both of them. They are such fun loving, silly people who will make you laugh and feel so good. It is also about dreams coming true and never really knowing what lies ahead for any of us! Good life lessons we all need to learn.

Thank yous from our little Tizita

On these ever so cute thank you notes, Tizita is saying Thanks in Amheric! She is already bilingual.

What an exciting day yesteday when I went to get the mail and found these cute thank you notes from our sweet, little Tizita and her mom and dad for the Adoption Celebration! Just to see her cute little face (I cannot say smiling face because she is dead on serious, but those eyes sparkle) was enough to turn a very stormy, muggy Wisconsin August day into a bright perfect one. So far, the month of August is going quickly. While I don't like to wish away time(it usually moves fast enough on its own) I am very anxious for the end of this month. You already know the reasons, Alissa's wedding and Tizita's homecoming! It just is not going to get any better than that!

Note to little Tizita: It won't be long now, little one. Stay healthy and remember how much we all love you and are waiting to hold you in our arms, you are already in our hearts.

I am also waiting to take actual pictures of you! While I am so thankful to have the two that we have, I am ready for a few hundred more and a smile!

A Grandpa's work is never done

This afternoon after Grandpa John washed his own vehicle, he lovingly washed some of Tizzy's riding toys getting them all ready for her!

Tizzy, we cannot wait for you to get here and try these riding toys out. Somehow when we wash them up it makes the wait easier, not sure why!

Blessings abound for this blogger

On this beautiful, sunny Sunday morning I just had to take a few moments to thank God for the wonderful blessings that He has showered on our family.

• In a little more than a month, John and I will be laying eyes on our precious Tizita Desta for the very first time. I can only imagine the way Courtney and Paul will look as they come off the plane with Tizzy in tow. I am guessing very tired, maybe teary eyed, most definitely overjoyed!
• In less than a month our family will be sharing the glorious wedding day of Alissa and Nathan. They have been planning the wedding for a long time and it will be so great to see it all come together and watch them stand before all their friends and family to exchange their vows. Paul's band will be playing which is always a fun time. I am looking forward to dancing the night away as the mother of the bride. This is definitely a dream come true for this mother! An added blessing here: I have a fabulous dress and shoes to wear to the wedding!
• Courtney and Paul have an accepted offer on their condo in Lake Mills. As soon as that sells Courtney never has to work again unless she wants to! They moved into their big, beautiful, old house in Oshkosh last September and it has been a long year to make two house payments, but it is almost over! Thank you , God for the patience for this wait!
• Courtney and Paul will not have to take any money with them to the closing! Although they were more than willing to do that to get rid of that condo.
• Even with John's one fifth of a week lay off and my summer of no pay check we have been very successful in stretching our money and actually purchasing many extras along the way.
• My girls, Nathan, and Paul just spent a lovely Riverfest here and I love hanging out with my kids! I am just so thankful that they tolerate John and I so well, too. We truly have great times together. What a blessing!

I know the list could and should go on and on and on, but it is time to go to church. While I am there I will say a prayer of thanks and praise to God for his goodness! God is so good to us! I hope you are all feeling his Glory right now, too.

It's Riverfest in Watertown

Here we are before our bike ride

Here is John in the pool. He so seldom gets on my blog. He is pretty handsome for an old fellow, heh?

Here I am enjoying the pool


This is the four days of Riverfest in Watertown. It is four days (Thursday to Sunday) of beer drinking, people watching, music, food, and fun at Riverside Park which is the park located right in our backyard. Riverfest has been going on since the girls were about eight and ten. Everyone has their own area in which to congregate and you can usually find people near the beer tent of their choice-Miller vs. Bud. I always enjoy visiting with all the people that I haven't seen for a year and catching up with their latest news. This year we started out on Thursday night with our usual Zwieg's hamburger. Courtney and Paul joined us on Thursday. On Friday morning Courtney, Paul, John, and I took a 14 mile bike ride. Well, actually Paul blew out a tire and had to walk the last three miles! Alissa and Nathan joined us for an afternoon pool party in Mallory's pool and then we all headed down to watch Dennis D. Young put on an awesome concert. Courtney, Paul, Alissa, and Nathan headed out on Saturday since they can only take so much of the festivities. John and I found some more long lost friends tonight and now we are waiting for the fireworks to begin! It has been so much fun to spend time with the girls, Paul, and Nathan. I am so glad they came home for one more Riverfest. I think I hear the first booms so I better head out to catch the fireworks.
Note to Tizzy: We told so many people about you this weekend. By next Riverfest you will be here and Grandpa and I will take you on the rides! I know the dynamics of Riverfest will change when you get here, but I am more than ready to turn in my beers for cotton candy. I wonder how you will like the fireworks?